Untung99

Manchester City and Arsenal’s title battle – and Liverpool’s recent struggles – show that a solid midfield is crucial The holding midfield role is a bespoke one; you need to be technically very good, not just a destroyer, have a high-level understanding of the game and be able to drop into the backline but also break forward, depending on what team you are in. Simple enough. Manchester City have one of the best in the business in Rodri. He has been an incredibly consistent performer since his arrival from Atlético Madrid in 2019 and City are reaping the rewards. The importance of his role is shown by Saturday’s opponents, Liverpool, who have been constantly linked with midfield players because they have struggled in this position. Rodri, on the other hand, has provided stability. Continue reading...

* Champions League quarter-final poised at 1-0 before second leg * Emma Hayes ready to make late call on crucial defender Bright Emma Hayes will give Millie Bright as much time as possible to prove her fitness for Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Lyon on Thursday night. Chelsea earned a 1-0 victory in the first leg in south-east France thanks to a Guro Reiten goal to give the Blues the advantage over the eight-time Women’s Champions League winners and current holders. Continue reading...

* Saudi Public Investment Fund took majority stake in club * US court case raises questions over state involvement The chief executive of the Premier League has told MPs he cannot comment on whether Newcastle’s links with Saudi Arabia are being reinvestigated in light of a recent US court case. Newcastle’s takeover saga ended in 2021 after the Saudi Public Investment Fund took a majority stake, having provided “legally binding assurances” to the Premier League there would be no state involvement in the running of the club. Continue reading...

* Clubs will also get a greater say in football calendar * Deal could make European Super League less likely Fifa has agreed to pay clubs an extra $146m (£119m) to release their players for the men’s World Cup and give them a greater say in the game’s calendar. The moves are part of a new deal that indicates a significant thawing of relations between the sport’s governing body and Europe’s top teams. Relations have been frosty since the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, offered his tacit support for the failed European Super League project and advocated for a World Cup every two years. Infantino signed a new memorandum of understanding on Monday with the European Clubs Association in Budapest. Continue reading...

* Manchester City star has operation on Sunday morning * Foden trained on Saturday but out of Ukraine qualifier Phil Foden will miss England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix. The Manchester City midfielder felt unwell after training on Saturday and has been forced to leave the camp, further limiting Gareth Southgate’s outfield options before his side’s second match in Group C. Southgate, who is set to hand James Maddison his first international start when England meet Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday evening, has already seen Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Reece James pull out of the squad through injury. England are also without Luke Shaw, who is suspended following his red card during the 2-1 victory against Italy on Thursday night. Continue reading...

* Under-21s manager calls on social media companies to act * ‘These same people will be cheering goals if Chieo scores’ The Republic of Ireland Under-21s manager, Jim Crawford, has hit out at the “uneducated” trolls who sent online abuse to members of the country’s under-15s squad. The Football Association of Ireland has condemned the attacks which came after the under-15s’ back-to-back 6-0 victories over Latvia this week, as “vile and horrific” and is working with police and social media companies to identify and deal with those responsible. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Outside the worlds of Countdown and Scrabble, longevity just doesn’t get the credit it deserves. First-world problems, we’ll reluctantly concede, but we’ve got to talk about something and this football email won’t write itsel … [Football Daily glazes over, then sits lost in thought for a few minutes before walking cordially into The Man’s office to pitch Bored, the world’s first AI teatime football email. Precisely 4.71 seconds later, Football Daily emerges, openly weeping, and returns to its desk]. Re: yesterday’s Football Daily letters: the standard of writing must have reached new heights if Simon Mazier’s ‘Fenerbahce Sequence’ didn’t win prizeless letter o’ the day. We can only be thankful that there was no prize for him to have been deprived of” – Jeff Lloyd (and 1,056 others). ChatGPT seems to be all the rage now, supposedly backed by a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. It’s pretty impressive, and scary, but th...